Control of electrically-operated switches.



' t'crredto will be tors in rapid succession w impossible.

EUGENE R. CARICHOFF, OF SCHENECTADY, NEW

TRIO COMPANY, A CORPO YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELEG- RA'TION OF NEWYORK.

CONTROL OF ELECTRICALLY-OPERATED SW ITCHES.

Application filed September 19, 1910.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 1'7, 1911. Serial No. 582,640.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that l, li ttENE ll. (lamenorr, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Schenectady, in the county of Schenectady, State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful lmprovements in Controlof ElectricallyJ)perated Switches, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to the control of electrically operated switchesand particularly to the control of a plurality of said switches ort'ontactors intended for operation in succession. A plurality ofsuccessively operated eontactors are often employed in the control ofelectric motors and my invention is particularly adapted for use in thisconnect ion.

In one aspect, my invention may be considered as an improvement on sucha system of control as is typified in the patent to A. S. (lubitt.Lt-1,108, November 30, 1909, commonly ret'erreddn as a two-wire notching control" system. in systems of this general type it may often happenthat the notching relay mechanism is slower in operation than the -ont:u'to1 's and that two or more contactors will close in rapid successionbefore the relay mechanism becomes etl'ectiveuto delay their operationin the manner intended.

()ne of the objects of my present invert tion is to provide anarrangement in which theincorreet mode of operation above repositivelyprevcntwt.

ln carrying out my invention. I arrange a two-wire notching .eontrolsystem with enough resistance in the actuating circuits to prevent thecontaetors from operating until one of the switch members of the relaymechanism has operated and closed certain contacts which cause thereduction of resistance in the actuatiln circuit. Since the notchingrelay mechanism is so arrangetl that these contacts are closed after thecontacts in the other actuating circuit have been opened, one eontaetorcannot close until the actuating circuit of the succeeding eontaetorhasbeen interrupted at the relay mechanism. The closing of two contacithoutbeing controlled by the relay mechanism is therefore.

will be fullv understood My invention "t; r ption, taken m from thetollowi resistances R, R

,of the relay is likewise partying drawing,

simple control system einbodylng my invention; and Fig. 2 shows amodified arrangement which may be employed in the system of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, it will be seen that I have shown, my systemin connection with the starting of a series motor by cutting resistanceout of the circuit thereof, but it is obvious that my invention is notlimited to the control of this particular type of motor, but may beapplied to any type of motor either alternating or direct current.

In the drawing, A represents the armature and F the fiel of a seriesmotor having and R connected in series therewith and adapted tolie-consecutively cut out of circuit to bring the motor to runningspeed. A series of contactorsl, 2, t, and 4 are arranged first to closethe motor circuit through the resistance and'then cut out the sectionsconsecutively. The contactor 1 is provided with two interlocks 5 and 6adapted to be closed when the contactor is closed and an interlock- 7adapted to he opened when the contact or closes. Contactors 2 and 3 areprovided with similar interlocks 8, 9, l0 and 11, 12, 13, respectively,while the contactor 4 is provided with only two interlocks let and 15,the former to beclosed when the contactor closes, while the latter openswhen the contactor is closed. A pair of reiays 16 and 17 are arranged tobe operated alternately to successively close the contactors. Relay 16comprises a winding cooperating with a core provided with a contactmember 18 which is arranged to bridge the contacts 1!) when the core islifted, and to bridge the contacts 20 when the core is down. Relay l? isprovided with a similar winding cooperating with a core havinga contactmember 21 adapted to opcrate between contacts 22 and 23. Each corecontrolled by series windings 24 and 25,-respectively, which prcvent thecorrespomling core from dropping when the current is excessive. Aresistance r is arranged to be connected in shunt to the winding of therelay 16 when the contacts 19 are bridged and a similar resistance 1" isadapted tobe connected in shunt with the winding of relay'l? when thecontacts 22 close the contactor 1', whereupon the contactor arahridgcd.Aniaster controller C, having two positions, a and b, is arranged tocontrol the relays and contactors.

The arrangement of circuits and mode of operation are as follows: Tostart the motor the master controller C is moved to position b,whereupon the relay 16 and coil of contactor 1 will be energized, thecircuit being as follows: from the line through the controller C,conductor 26, across contacts 23, through winding of relay 16, conductor27, interlock 7, winding of contactor 1 to ground. This energizes thewinding of relay 16 sutiiciently to lift its core and bridge contacts19. The winding of the relay 16, however, is 0 high resistance andcontactor 1 will not close with this resistance in series with it. \Vhenthe contacts 19 are bridged, however, a shunt circuit isestablishedthrough the resistance 1 1' will close and complete the motorcircuit through the resistance sections R, R and R \Vhen contactor lcloses, the actuating circuit is opened at interlock 'i' and a holdingcircuit is closed at interlock (3 through the contact fingers c and (Z.The-closing of contactor 1 likewise closes interlock 5 which is in thecircuit of contactor 2. The actuating circuit of contactor 1 beingopened at interlock 7, relay 16 is deenergized and contacts 20 will beagain bridged, providing the current in the winding .24 is notexcessive. This closes a circuit through relay 17 and winding ofcontactor 2, the circuitbeing as follows: from line through controllerC, conductor 26, con tacts 20, winding of relay 17, conductor 28interlocks o and 10, and winding of con tactor Z'to ground. Contactor 2will not close, however, until the relay operates and bridges contacts29, thereby connecting the resistance r in shunt with the winding of therelay 1?. As soon as the relay-17 operates, contactor 2 closes and cutsout section of resistance It. Similarly the circuit of relay 2 is openedat interlock l0 and a circuit is completed through the winding of contactor 3 at interlock The relay 17 thereupon drops and relay lt'i againoperates to 3, by the closing of which the relay 1% is detinergized andthe relay 1'? energized to close the contactor a.

It will be seen that no one of the contactors will operate until therelay which controls it has completed its operation, so that by the timeit has completed its operation the relay has deenergized the winding ofthe other relay so that it is impossible for one contactor ti. closeuntil the actuating circuitot' the succeeding contactor has beeninterrupted. It is thereforeimpossible to close two contactors in rapidsuccession without the control of the relay mechanism, The operation ofthe contactors may be stopped at any time by moving the controller toposition (1, since the operation of the when the current is excessive.

relays is interrupted by the movanexit of the contact finger c off ofits corresponding segment.

In Fig. 2 I have shown a slightly modified form in which a singleseriesrelay 29 controls the notching relays, so that the windings 30 and 31 ofthe relays will notoperate Instead of having the relay windings of highresistance, I employ the auxiliary resistances r and T which are to beconnected in series with the windings 30 and 31 respectively when therelays are down and to beshort circuited when the relays are up. Theoperation of parts will be substantially thesame as in Fig. 1.Conductors 27 and 28 are the actuating wires of the contactors and aseach relay operates, it short circuits the resistance in series'with thewinding and thereby reduces the resistance of the actuating circuit andallows the corresponding contactor to close. The operation of thenotching relay is all the time under the con-, trol of the serieswinding and when the current becomes excessive it will stop theoperation.

\Vhile I have described my invention as embodied in concrete mechanifill and as operating in a specific manner, in accordance with the patentstatutes, it oulf be understood that I do not limit my invention thereto, since various modifications thereof will suggest themselves to thoseskilled in the art without departing from the spiritof my invention, thescope ot-which is set forth in the annexed claims.

\Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States, is,-

V 1. In con'ibination, a plurality of contactors intended for operationin succession, two actuating circuits leading to alternate contactors,relay mechanism tor energizing said actuating circuits alternately andconnections whereby the resistance oi? the actuating circuits isalternately decreased upon the successive operation oi the relaymechanism to cause said contactors to close successively.

2. In combination, a plurality of-contactors intended for operation insuccession, two actuating circuits leading to alternate contactors,relay mechanism arranged to be energized simultanmnisly with thealternate actuating circuits, and connections whereby the resistance ofeach actuating circuit is decreased to close the res 'icctii'e contactorupon each operalionot the relay mechanism.

In combination, a plurality of cont-actorsintended for operation insucces ion,

two actuating circuits contactors and a relay contactors, switchescreased to close the respective contactor upon I tacts each operation ofthe relay mechanism.

In combination, a plurality of contactors intended for operation insuccession, leading to alternate mechanism for energizing the saidactuating circuits alternately comprising switches located in saidactuating circuits, an actuating magnet'for opening each of said switchcontacts, a shunt circuit around each magnet coil, and contacts in saidshunt circuit closed by'the corresponding magnet when energized.

5. In combination, a plurality of contactoi's intended for operation insuccession, two actuating circuits leading to alternate contactors, anda relay mechanism for energizing said actuating circuits alternatelycomprising sw1tch each of said actuating circuits, an actuating magnetfor opening the switch contacts of each circuit, each magnet hai ing itscoil controlled by the switch contacts of the other magnet, a shuntcircuit around each magnet coil, and contacts in said shunt circuitsclosed by the corresponding magnet when energized.

6. In combination, a plurality of contactors intended for operation insuccession, two actuating circuits leading to alternate closed by eachcontactor located in the actuating circuit of the succeeding contactor,and a relay mechanism for energizing said actuating circuits alternatelycoi'nprising two actuating magnet coils having movable cores one locatedin each of said actuating circuits, a shunt circuit around each magnetcoil, normally closed switch contacts located in each actuating circuit,normally open switch contacts located in said shuntcircuits, andconnectious whereby each core in its movement in response to theenergization of its coiiperatiug magnet coil first opens the switchconcontacts one located in' in the dther magnet coil and then closes theswitch contacts located in the shunt circuit around the magnet coilcooperating with that core.

7. In combination, a plurality of contactors intended for operation insuccession, two actuating circuits leading to alternate contactors,relay mechanism ha ing an crating winding for each actuating circuitarranged to be alternately energized simultaneously with theenergization of the alternate actuating circuits to operate the relaymechanism,and connections whereby the re-- sistance of the alternatingactuating circuits is decreased upon the closing of the relay mechanismto close the successive contae tors.

8. In a relay mechanism, two actuating magnet coils each having movablecores cooperating therei'vith, switch contacts oper ated by each coreconnected with the actuating Winding of the other core, a shunt eircuitaround each of said actuating windings and switch contacts operated byeach core located said core.

9. In a relay mechanism, two actuating magnet coils each having movablecores cooperating therewith, normally closed switch contacts opened byeach of said cores in their movement in response to the energization ofsaid actuating coil, each set of switch contacts being connected incircuit with the actuating coil operating the other contacts, ashuntcircuit around each of said actuating coils, and switch contactsclosed by each core 'located in the shunt circuit around the coilcooperating with thatcore.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 16th day ofSeptember, 1910.

EUGENE R.v CARICHOFF.

\Vitnesses Gno. P. YVurr'rLnsnY, IIIGLEN ORFORD.

in the shunt circuit cooperating with-

